Pot of Gold Night Raises $121,413 for Harrison Sisters, Eagles Fall 6-5 in Shootout
Mar 4, 2023
LOVELAND, CO. – The Colorado Eagles annual “Pot of Gold” Night raised $121,413 for seven-year-old Kennedy and nine-year-old Kinley Harrison of Arvada on Saturday. The sisters suffer from GM1, a rare genetic disorder that leads to widespread neurodegeneration. The fundraising efforts of fans punctuated a wild contest on the ice that saw the Calgary Wranglers rally for a 6-5 shootout win. Eagles forward Alex Galchenyuk posted two goals and two assists in the loss, while Wranglers defenseman Jeremie Poirier notched a goal and two assists and buried the game-winner in a shootout. Colorado finished a stellar 4-for-6 on the power play in the defeat.
An early power play would vault Colorado onto the scoreboard, as forward Oskar Olausson lit the lamp with a shot from the left-wing circle that would give the Eagles a 1-0 edge just 3:59 into the contest.
The lead would grow when Galchenyuk darted through the right-wing circle before snapping a wrister past Calgary goaltender Dustin Wolf, extending the Eagles advantage to 2-0 at the 10:09 mark of the first period.
A power play for the Wranglers would slice the deficit in half, as forward Ben Jones banged home a loose puck at the top of the crease, cutting Colorado’s lead to 2-1 with 7:18 remaining in the opening 20 minutes of play. The Eagles would be outshot in the period 13-6, but still left for the first intermission on top, 2-1.
Calgary would even things up at the 15:48 mark of the second period when Poirier skated between the circles and guided a backhander past Eagles goalie Justus Annunen, leveling the score at 2-2. Minutes later, the Wranglers would earn nearly a full minute of 5-on-3 power play time, but Colorado’s penalty kill would rise to the occasion and the two teams would head to the second intermission still tied at 2-2.
Calgary would snag its first lead of the night when forward Dryden Hunt tucked home a shot from the side of the crease to put the Wranglers on top 3-2 just 3:43 into the third period.
A power play for Colorado would see forward Charles Hudon sweep home his own rebound from the low slot to square the score at 3-3 at the 5:39 mark of the final frame. Just minutes later, another Eagles power play would lead to another Colorado goal, as Hudon lit the lamp from the bottom of the right-wing circle with 8:44 left to play in the contest to give the Eagles a 4-3 advantage.
The success on the man-advantage would continue when Galchenyuk blistered home a one-timer from the top of the right-wing circle to extend the lead to 5-3 at the 16:13 mark of the final frame.
Just 37 seconds later, and with Wolf pulled in favor of the extra attacker, Calgary forward Emilio Petterson would send a wrister between the post and the mask of Annunen to cut the deficit to 5-4.
The Wranglers would once again pull Wolf and would once again capitalize when forward Matthew Phillips tucked the puck into the back of the net from the side of the crease, tying the game at 5-5 with 2:21 left in regulation.
As the game shifted to sudden-death overtime, Colorado would throw two shots on net while Calgary notched one shot, but neither would convert, and the contest would move to a shootout. Wolf would deny Galchenyuk, Hudon and Cal Burke in the shootout, while Poirier netted the game-winner, as Calgary claimed the 6-5 victory.
The Wranglers outshot the Eagles by a final count of 39-36, as Annunen suffered the loss in net, allowing five goals on 39 shots.
The Eagles will be back in action when they travel to take on the Calgary Wranglers on Tuesday, March 7th at 7:00pm MT at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta. Tickets for all regular season games are on sale now and start at just $21. You can find more information on ticket packages, theme tickets, and promotional nights, by visiting ColoradoEagles.com or by calling the ticket department at (970) 686-7468
